Mute Swan

How to recognise it

• Adults are all white, the bill orange and black with a black knob at the base
• Black triangle at the bill base points towards the eye, which has a black ring
• Long flexible neck often held in an S-curve, small head and blackish-grey legs
• Male has a larger knob; young are greyish brown-white, bill grey-black turning pinker

Call and song

In flight the wings make a constant, metallic swishing sound that can be heard 1 to 2 kilometres away. Its calls are described as grunting, hoarse whistling and snorting. Excited birds give a hard, loud "hueiarr" or "kiorr", and it often hisses at rivals and intruders in its territory.

Where and when

The Mute Swan breeds in Sweden and is partly migratory. It occurs around the coasts and in reedy lakes from Skåne to central Norrland. In southern Sweden it is resident, along the Norrland coast often migratory. It is reported all year round and from all 21 counties. At Ottenby on southern Öland there is a colony of over 100 pairs.

Food and behaviour

The Mute Swan grazes water plants from the bottom with its long neck and can reach the bottom in water down to about 1.5 metres deep. It defends its territory hard and may attack people who come too close. When it feels threatened it raises its wings and lowers its head. In May and June it lays five to nine grey-green eggs in a large nest of reeds.